Webster native 'cool guy' behind sports microphone

March 25, 2007|By John Papendick, American News Sports Editor

Growing up in Webster, Scott Kwasniewski was a self-described “football head” who was intrigued by the magical box that emitted the rock and roll music he loved as much as sports. He even spliced together songs on cassettes in high school, which he used at junior high school dances where he served as the disc jockey. Kwasniewski never dreamed that one day he would splice music and sports together to put bread on his table. But 20 years later as “Scotty Kwas,” he is the play-by-play man for the most famous sports team in South Dakota at the moment. “It has been a blast and a fun ride,” Kwasniewski said of the South Dakota State women's basketball team's 14-game winning streak. When SDSU takes the court at 3 this afternoon against Wyoming in the Elite Eight of the Division I Women's National Invitation Tournament in Laramie, Kwasniewski will be there as always. His radio broadcast will be heard back in his home of Brookings on 910 AM KJJQ Radio, across the state on WNAX 570-AM Radio and to Jackrabbit Nation on the SDSU Web site (gojacks.com). In their third season since joining Division I, the Jackrabbits (25-5) have had another amazing season in a program rich with success. Kwasniewski loves his job as voice of the Jacks, who played their first two WNIT games at Frost Arena in Brookings before records crowds of 5,719 and then 6,053. “In the last three or four years, we have gone from the Virgin Islands to the Bahamas,” said Kwasniewski. “And then we go to places like (legendary coach Phog) Allen Fieldhouse in Kansas, the godfather of basketball. Or we play the Cornhuskers. The places you get to go play at as a Division I school are amazing. And then the team you are following wins in those places. To be part of that all has been exciting. And they are doing it all with local kids who work extremely hard.” Fans are flooding to Kwasniewski these days to talk about the Jackrabbits' advancement to the fourth round of its first Division I post-season basketball tournament. “It is all anyone wants to talk about,” he said. “It's understandable. This team is making history, and people like to be a part of history. You can't help but to get excited for them and what they have accomplished.” Kwasniewski strives to maintain a high level of objectivity, intensity and focus with each broadcast. “You try to reflect the environment and hope that you do it without being obnoxious. When you have got 6,000 fans in the building screaming and yelling, you have to try to match their intensity. If you are the one duck in the arena quacking when everyone else is honking, you stick out.” Sometimes things get too intense, like SDSU's recent WNIT games. “Thank goodness for media timeouts,” joked Kwasniewski. “They give me a chance to catch my breath so I won't pass out.” Kwasniewski also tries to match the intensity of the team he is covering. “When you wrap up a game and see the coaching staff go back to their offices to break down video tape until 1 or 2 in the morning, it makes you want to work just as hard to match the quality of the program you are covering. Just like the team, you always want to put your best product out there every night.” And just like the team, Kwasniewski is always preparing for the next game as soon as the last one is over. “You never want to come to the point of the broadcast where you don't have anything to say. You always want to have more on the table than what you need.” Kwasniewski not only travels with the team on the road, he eats with them and goes to practices. “On the road, you are essentially part of the team.” Even though Kwasniewski is part of the team, he puts on a full-court press to guard against being a fan when he is on the air. Objectivity is sometimes a tough task for any newspaper, radio or TV reporter when covering one team throughout its season. “You just need to be honest,” said Kwasniewski. “The coaches want that too. They want an honest product put out there. If you are doing the SDSU-Indiana game, you know there are Indiana fans in the building listening. They would not appreciate it if I go over the top when one of their kids commits a foul or something like that. You have to guard that line.” At the same time, a broadcaster must be entertaining. “You can't fake it, but you want to provide excitement. No one wants to listen to someone be boring. They want you to be excited. You just do the job to the best of your ability, and you hope at the end of the night, you did what you were supposed to do.” Kwasniewski's worst critic is himself. Adored by thousands of SDSU fans, his community and opponents for his award-winning work and smooth voice, Kwasniewski is quick to criticize himself. “Very rarely will I get through a whole game when I listen to one of my broadcasts. I get so frustrated with myself, thinking, 'I should have said it this way, or that sounded stupid.'” Kwasniewski said he got interested in radio while growing up in Webster through radio stations like KSDN in Aberdeen. “But I never, ever thought about doing play-by-play even though I loved sports,” he said. “I wanted to be the rock-and-roll DJ - the cool guy who played all the cool songs.” Even though Kwasniewski isn't spinning rock songs, the team and Jackrabbit fans would still attach the cool guy label to Scotty Kwas.